'Dancing With The Stars' Bloopers That Make Us Love It Even More
On "Dancing with the Stars," celebrities are partnered with professional ballroom dancers to learn and perform a variety of ballroom dances week after week. The couples are judged by a panel consisting of a combination of Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, Len Goodman, and Julianne and Derek Hough, and aim to win the most fans' votes and eventually clinch the coveted Mirror Ball trophy.
Throughout the show's numerous seasons, there have been many beautiful, meaningful, and outright fun routines. With contestants ranging from everyone from Kim Kardashian to Bill Nye, there have been many moments that have won America's hearts. However, with the ups come the downs, and — being a live competition show — "Dancing with the Stars" has seen its fair share of bloopers as well.
Whether it's wardrobe malfunctions, the unfortunate timing of bodily fluids, or cursed partnerships, fans of the show know that anything can happen on the live broadcast. Here are some of the biggest bloopers that occurred on "DWTS" that actually just made the show even more endearing.
Sharna Burgess' nip slip
A few seasons before she became a Mirror Ball champion, pro dancer Sharna Burgess suffered a nip slip while dancing with former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown during Season 22. Luckily, the incident happened at the end of the routine, so viewers were able to focus on just the duo's tango for the most part.
The cameras quickly caught the mishap and diverted to the show's logo, though Burgess was unaware of what happened until she faced the judges. Host Tom Bergeron blocked Burgess from the camera as he announced he was instructed by a producer to inform the professional dancer of what had happened. "Pull it up just a touch for the family," he told her.
Burgess later told Entertainment Tonight that she was "mortified" about the slip, but it did act as a lesson for the show's costume designers, who now line her outfits with double-sided tape. "Now I get triple-checked every show to make sure that I am in nice and tight and nothing is going to fall out anywhere," she revealed. We're glad she was able to face the situation with such grace and good humor.
Maksim Chmerkovskiy dropped Kirstie Alley
Actor Kirstie Alley and pro dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy's immediate connection instantly hooked viewers at the start of Season 12. But during the live shows, the pair quickly became buzzworthy due to a few mishaps. The first was during "Story Week," where the two danced to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," which was dedicated to the actor's late mother, who died when she was hit by a drunk driver.
The routine was going beautifully, until Chmerkovskiy's "thigh gave out" and the two came crashing down, per Us Weekly. Chmerkovskiy winced in pain, shook his leg, and held a finger out to his partner to regroup before getting right back into it. He was visually upset when the routine ended and apologized for the spasm. "It happens," he said to Brooke Burke, one of that season's hosts. "It has nothing to do with her. I just want to apologize."
Each judge gave the duo a seven and praised them for the emotional movement of the piece. "Dancing is a bit like life; it's about overcoming adversities and you did that," judge Len Goodman said.
Kirstie Allen lost her shoe
Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy made headlines two weeks in a row — not for their dancing — but for yet another hiccup during their live performance. Midway through a waltz, Chmerkovskiy gracefully slid Alley onto the ground, where she struggled to fasten her heeled shoe. The "Cheers" actor successfully tucked the strap back in and proceeded to dance with "much more joy," according to judge Carrie Ann Inaba. "You are the queen of the unexpected mishap," Inaba said in her critique. "You didn't miss a beat."
Despite the unlucky streak, the couple managed to score a point higher than the previous week. After the show, the two laughed off the mishap while talking to the press, but Alley did mention that she felt like the weak link in their partnership. "I feel like I have dragged Maks into the depths of Hell," she passively told CNN to Chmerkovskiy's surprise. "Because here you have this fantastic dancer ... and now I'm dragging him down to a freakin football game in my backyard."
Although they seemed plagued with mishaps, the couple managed to overcome their difficulties and come in second place overall, just missing out on that coveted Mirror Ball trophy.
Carrie Ann Inaba fell off her chair — twice!
It seems like chairs and Carrie Ann Inaba aren't the best of friends on the "Dancing with the Stars" set. The judge and professional dancer has been knocked off her chair twice as a result of contestants' dances.
The first incident took place after Gilles Marini and Peta Murgatroyd's rumba during Season 15. "Let the baby-making begin," she exclaimed, raising her arms in enthusiasm. However, her excitement proved to be too much, and when she went to sit back down, she apparently completely missed the chair. Marini, her fellow judges Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman, and host Tom Bergeron all rushed over to help her, and thankfully, Inaba was unhurt. "When you said 'let the baby-making begin' I didn't think you'd get into that position," Bergeron joked after Inaba resumed her seat.
The judge also had chair troubles in 2019, when she missed her chair after standing up to check out a prop used in Pasha Pashkov and Kate Flannery's "Mary Poppins" routine. This time, however, the fall wasn't entirely Inaba's fault, as the chair rolled out of reach as she tried to grab it, but her momentum was too much, and she ended up on the floor again. Don't worry, she laughed that mishap off, too, after receiving help from those around her.
Nancy Grace had a few mishaps during her time on the show
Journalist and legal commentator Nancy Grace's time on "Dancing with the Stars" was, unfortunately, anything but graceful. First, keen-eared viewers were quick to notice what sounded like a fart coming from Grace while she was talking to host Brooke Burke. The broadcaster told Burke that she saw her twins smiling in the crowd while performing when the alleged toot came out.
Grace denied that she was the one that dealt it, however, telling the press after the incident, "I was there, Tristian was there, and Brooke was there, and I'm like talking about my twins and how they survived — that did not happen. Although I can't rely, the rest of the crew was sitting behind me."
A few weeks later, Grace had another kerfuffle during the live show when she suffered a nip slip during her routine. As the show is filmed on a time delay, audiences at home didn't see the wardrobe malfunction, but Grace's attitude after the performance definitely showed that something had happened. The week after that incident, her professional dance partner, Tristian Macmanus, jokingly offered her some advice ahead of their next performance: "Keep your nipples in, don't fart, and do well."
Tyra Banks announced the wrong bottom two couples
"Dancing with the Stars" is a live show, which means there's always room for error. Tyra Banks experienced that firsthand during her first season as the show's host, when the wrong bottom two couples were reportedly printed on her cue cards, Today reported. Banks already told "Cheer" coach Monica Aldama and her partner Val Chmerkovskiy that they were safe from elimination, however, that turned out not to be true.
Luckily, Banks had plenty of experience with eliminations from her time on "America's Next Top Model," so she was able to stay cool and collected as the show's producers straightened out the results. "This is live TV, right?" Banks told the audience. "This is the craziness of live TV. ... There has been an error in our control room, but we're making it happen."
Aldama and Chmerkovskiy were called back to the stage to face elimination, but the judges ultimately saved them and sent home Keo Motsepe and actor Anne Heche.
Suni Lee ran off the floor to be sick
Moments before "Dancing with the Stars" went live, Olympic gold medalist Suni Lee tweeted to let fans know that she felt sick, but she still planned to push through her two rehearsed dances. The gymnast kept her promise, but the night took an unexpected turn when she ran off the dance floor to vomit seconds after her first number with her pro-partner, Sasha Farber. Host Tyra Banks assured viewers that Lee did not have COVID, but was sick with a stomach bug.
Lee promptly rejoined Farber to wrap up the judge's comments, all of whom praised the 18-year-old for persevering despite feeling icky. Showing some serious dedication, she returned later in the night for her second dance. "I know you've been struggling all day," Banks said after the second routine. "Throwing up. Let's keep it real. You ran off. But you're back." "It's very scary because it's like, I've never done that before so I was kind of embarrassed and I knew that if I didn't come out here I'd be very disappointed in myself," Lee responded, like a true athlete.
Despite her illness, Lee still performed admirably and received positive reviews from the judges. She and Farber made it all the way to Season 30's semi-final week, before finally being eliminated.